Not a single one of the four players eligible for Spain from Real Madrid played the full 90 minutes in the Super Cup final. Flick fielded 10 players eligible for Spain and, with his youngsters, gave Real Madrid a lesson.
Real Madrid line-up: Courtois; Lucas Vázquez (Asencio, min.52), Tchouaméni (Modrid, min.64), Rüdiger, Mendy (Fran García, min.76); Valverde, Camavinga (Ceballos, 46), Bellingham; Rodrygo, Vinícius (Brahim, min.76) and Mbappé.
No youth academy player participated in any goal.
Barça line-up: Szczęsny; Koundé, Cubarsí, Íñigo Martínez (Araújo, min.28), Balde; Casadó, Pedri; Lamine Yamal (Olmo, min.59), Gavi (Iñaki Peña, min.59), Raphinha (Ferran Torres,min.79); Lewandowsky.
Lucas Vázquez Doesn't Represent Real Madrid's Work with Its Youth Academy in Recent Years
Two of Barça's five goals were scored by youth academy players (Lamine Yamal and Balde)
Barça fielded five new youth academy players: Cubarsí, Balde, Casadó, Lamine Yamal, and Gavi. Two, aged 17; one, 20; and two, 21.
Real Madrid fielded one youth academy player, Lucas Vázquez, aged 33. With no connection to the work done by Real Madrid in its youth academy in recent years.
Hansi Flick introduced three more youth academy players in the second half: Dani Olmo and Iñaki Peña.
Ancelotti introduced Asencio and Fran García in the second half.
Barça Won the Super Cup with 10 Players Eligible for Spain
With the presence of Íñigo Martínez, Pedri, and Ferran Torres, Flick fielded 10 players who can play for the Spanish national team. Among them is Pedri, who isn't a youth academy player but was signed by Barça when he was 15.
Altogether they accumulated 579 minutes in service of Spain and Spanish soccer. Almost four times more than Real Madrid's contribution.
Ancelotti's candidates to play for La Roja in the Super Cup final were: Lucas Vázquez, Asencio, Fran García, and Ceballos. 4 in total, accumulating 150 minutes of play.
Is Asencio Not Playing Because Tchouaméni is a World-Class Player?
Real Madrid is the best in the world at everything, by definition. Its youth academy is also the best in the world, by definition.
The problem is they don't know how to explain why. It would be good to give Asencio an explanation: Why does Tchouaméni play in his position if he isn't better than him?
Then they wonder why the CSD doesn't wish any harm to the club that does the most for the national teams, European champions and Olympic gold medalists.
Florentino's narrative holds that the best youth academy players in the world don't play at Madrid because only the best can be there. Who's going to replace Vinícius or Mbappé with a youth academy player? Can't Tchouaméni be replaced either?
Barça's Tradition with the Youth Academy is Part of the Club's DNA
The same narrative holds that if Barça relies on its "youngsters," it's out of legal necessity. There's no money to sign players; another urban legend.
Barça has always taken care of its youth academy players. The best Barça in history, the one with the impossible sextuple, played with eight and nine youth academy players. There was also Tito Vilanova, and they played a LaLiga match with eleven youth academy players. Back then, there were no money problems.
However, we'll keep hearing that Real Madrid's youth academy is the best. We saw it in the Super Cup final, where Flick's "youngsters" humiliated the world's best stars.